Venus to transit across disc of Sun early on Wednesday morning

The rare event won't cause any catastrophes or send great solar flares

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ST. PETERSBURG, June 5 (Itar-Tass) — A rare astronomical event will happen early on Wednesday morning: Venus will be crossing the face of the Sun, AstroTransit 2012 project curator Vadim Mikhailov told Itar-Tass.

“Astronomers call that phenomenon a transit. Transits of Venus happen at various intervals. The previous transit took place in 2004, and the next would be seen in over a century only, Mikhailov said.

“A small dot – Venus – will be moving across the giant solar disc, and an attentive viewer will catch a glimpse of Venus’ halo,” he said. Mikhail Lomonosov noticed the Venus halo back in 1761 and suggested that the planet must have an atmosphere.

Venus will look dwarfed by the size of the sun, which will make the transit spectacular. The rare event won't cause any catastrophes or send great solar flares.